Combination tray and book-rack.



W. C. FRASER.

COMBINATION TRAY AND BOOK RACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1918.

l ,299, 1 64;. Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

( M/Vow UNI . WILLIAM G. FRASER, or MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

COMBINATION TRAY AND BOOK-RACK.

17 b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM C. FRASER, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCombination Trays and Book-Racks; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

This invention relates to improvements in invalid stands and has for itsmain object to provide a stand to be attached to a bed or cot which canbe used either as a tray or book holder by altering its position.

Another object is to provide a stand of the class described which can besecured to a bed in such a manner that it can be readily swung out ofthe way when not in use.

Still another object is to provide a tray with means attached theretowhich can be swung into position when desired, to act as a retainer fora book or magazine, when the tray is to be used as a holder.

A still further object is to provide a stand of the class describedwhereby the tray can be etsily removed from its frame when desire Theinvention in one practical form in which it may be embodied isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of my invention attached to a post of abed and showing the tray as a book holder.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with parts broken away and in sectionto more clearly show the details of construction, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the tray taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings I have shown my invention attached to a bed post 1 bymeans of clamps 2 which carry the supporting frame 3 allowing the sameto have a swinging movement in order that it might be swung intoposition in front of the occupant of the bed or to one side of the bedwhen not in use.

Secured on the main frame 3, centrally of its ends, is a sleeve 4 havingone of its ends notched to receive the correspondingly notched end ofthe sleeve 5 which is loosely mounted on the main frame 3. Fastened tothe main supporting frame 3 by means of rivets or bolts which secure thestationary sleeve 4 is a strut rod 3 which acts as a Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 1918.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919. Serial No. 223,108.

brace for the load on the main frame. Both the ends of the rod 3 and 3are bent downwardly to drop into sockets provided in the clamps 2.

Mounted on the sleeve 5 in any suitable manner is a tray 6 provided withbrackets 7 at its side edges to which are pivotally secured fingers 8.It will be readily seen that when it is desired to use the tray as abook holder, the fingers can be swung inwardly to hold the pages of thebook open. Furthermore, the pivotal movement will allow the fingers tobe swung upward or downward to accommodate different size books orperiodicals.

Carried on the end of the frame 3 and abutting the sleeve 5 is a spiralspring 9 which holds the sleeve 5 in engagement with the notched sleeve4. It will be readily seen that should the operator desire to convertthe book stand into a tray, this can be accomplished by ulling thesleeve 5 outwardly against the spring 9 until its notched end is freefrom the sleeve 4:- The tray can then be tilted to any desired position,at which point the spring will again force it back into lockedengagement with the sleeve 4. This operation is made comparativelysimple by the use of a handle 10 secured to the sleeve portion 5.

The extreme outer end of the frame 3 is threaded for the reception of anut 11, the purpose of which is to hold the spring 9 against the sleeve5 and in addition to facili tate the easy removal of the tray should itbe desired at any time to use this for other purposes.

While I have described and shown my invention in connection with a bed,it will be readily appreciated that the same can be attached to a chairor any suitable object de-, sired. It might also be used not only as atray and book holder but as a writing table, type-writer stand or thelike, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim In a device of the class described, clamps adapted to be securedto a bed-post, a main supporting bar pivoted in one of said clamps andextending at right angles to its pivotal line of axis, a sleeve providedwith a notched end mounted upon said supporting bar centrally of itsends, a strut rod pivoted in the other one of said clamps and extendingobliquely toward the sleeve, securing members passed through said sleeveand strut rod and the main supporting bar, a tray supporting sleeveslidably and pivotally mounted upon said supporting bar and having oneof its ends notched for engagement With vthe notched end of the firstsleeve, a tray secured to said supporting sleeve and yieldable thecounty of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

WILLIAM o. FRASER.

Copies of this patent may be obtainedifor five centseach, by addressing.the Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

